


Some Will Win, Some Will Lose

by fratboytomlin



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, First Kiss, Fluff, Football Player Liam, Glee Club - Freeform, Glee Club Member Zayn, M/M, One Shot, Principal Niall, Teacher Harry, Teacher Louis, Teen Romance, There's a lot of kissing, Zayn is a bit of a sarcastic shit, Zayn kinda freaks out too, Zayn really doesn't know what he wants, and a lot of awkward, and he really hates Liam, but Liam is also in glee club, oh yeah, side larry - Freeform, there's a happy ending i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-04
Updated: 2014-06-04
Packaged: 2018-02-03 02:45:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1728221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fratboytomlin/pseuds/fratboytomlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To make up for his never ending schemes, Liam is forced to join the glee club at school.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Will Win, Some Will Lose

Getting into trouble was a specialty for Liam Payne, star of his high school's football team. His most recent shenanigans had thrown him over the hedge, topping the infamous laxatives in bake sale brownies and putting red food coloring into the pool incidents. Apparently, the ticking time bomb explodes when basically the campus' biggest celebrity is caught skipping class in the basement, bottle in hand. 

So now, Liam was slacked down in a chair, his parents sitting opposite of him, waiting for Principal Horan to enter his office once again. Liam had been caught by the glee club pianist, Mr. Styles, who was in search of a set of speakers that he had found in the school's basement a couple days prior. Unfortunately for Liam, speakers weren't the only prize that Mr. Styles had found, the second being an obviously drunken student, skiving off of class and passed out in the corner of the room. 

Mr. Styles was a young teacher, just becoming a part of the staff this past year. Liam wasn't aware of this, clearly not being a component to the fine arts division, and he assumed that Mr. Styles was just another student who was ditching class. Sadly, this was not the case, Mr. Styles giving Liam a look of distress before dragging him upstairs and to Principal Horan's office. Principal Horan called Liam's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Payne to the school grounds, requiring that they make their way to the school immediately.

Plainly, Liam's parents weren't too pleased about the whole situation. They had always known their son was reckless when it came to his personality at school, but neither of them had ever expected for him to have stowed a bottle of vodka in his backpack from their liquor cabinet. Liam could tell that his parents were upset with him, his mother's face displaying a look of disappointment, and his father was holding his head in his hands. Liam grimaced, not being able to stand that he had put his parents in this position. He should have known better.

Thankfully, Principal Horan entered the room to break the uncomfortable silence between the Payne family. 

"Mr. and Mrs. Payne, thank you for your presence in light of this unfortunate state of affairs." Principal Horan said respectfully, sitting in the leather chair behind his oak desk.

"Let's cut to the chase," Mrs. Payne began, sitting upright and making intense eye contact with the blue eyed administrator, "What kind of trouble is my son in for this?"

"Well," Principal Horan clasped his hands in front of him on his desk, "Based on the numerous other incidents that we've have with Liam, we're not sure what else we could do. We've suspended him, made him do community service, and he's been put in isolation several times. We're not sure what else _to_ do other than expulsion at this point."

Liam's eyes widened like a deer in headlights, "You can't expel me, please. I'll stop acting up, I promise."

Principal Horan sighed, "Isn't that exactly what you said when you replaced the coffee grounds in the teacher's lounge with dirt? And also the time that you changed the school's domain to a gay porn website?"

"Yes," Liam admitted, biting his lip and glancing at his mother through his peripheral vision, "But I swear, I've changed now. Just one more chance, please."

The room is silent for a few minutes, Mr. Payne still shutting himself out from everyone else in the room. Mrs. Payne has retreated back into her chair, leaning her head on the palm of her hand and raising an eyebrow at Principal Horan. Meanwhile, Liam is having an intense stare down with Principle Horan, forcing tears to form in his chocolate eyes.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do," Principal Horan gives in, "You're a good kid, Liam. Your grades are spectacular, but your deplorable actions overshadow all of that, and we don't want that to happen." The man taps his chin, leaving Liam hopeful for a second, "How about this, I'll call Mr. Styles in here and he can give you your punishment, since he was the one who found you, and he can decide what's fair. Mr. and Mrs. Payne, you can exit my office with me now."

The three adults rose from their seats, leaving Liam alone in the large office.

This loneliness wasn't available for long, Mr. Styles entering the room and filling the void of missing souls in the room. 

"Hi, erm, Liam," Mr. Styles said, waving his hand awkwardly. Liam watched the young teacher as he sat down in Principal Horan's seat, purposely avoiding eye contact with the student. "So, it seems like you've been given every punishment in the _book_ ," Mr. Styles says in amazement, "I could have never pulled that off when I was your age, I was always too timid. You were the kind of kid I used to look up to."

Liam smiled, secretly thinking to himself that he was going to get off easily with this one.

"But, sadly, this situation has to be dealt with," Mr. Styles half frowned, his lips making the perfect slant, "Are you in any extracurricular activities at the moment, Liam?"

"I'm in football, but the season's over, so, no," Liam responds, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans. Truth be told, Liam was a little reluctant to know where Mr. Styles was going with this angle.

"How about, instead of giving you an arduous punishment, I'll assign you something that could benefit both yourself and the community?" Mr. Styles asked.

Liam furrowed his eyebrows together, "What do you mean?"

"Join glee club, and your penance is lifted." Mr. Styles settled, smiling at the pupil.

"Glee club? Isn't that, like, singing and shit?" Liam asked.

"Language, Payne," Mr. Styles warned, "Anyway, yes, in a nutshell, it's singing."

"Woah, woah, first of all," Liam held out his hands in front of him defensively, "The only place I sing is the shower, and second, I'm a _football player_. Since when do football players join the geek club?"

Mr. Styles crossed his arms over his blue button down, "Ever since Fox started broadcasting the show Glee, the number of diversity in glee clubs have skyrocketed."

Liam piques his eyebrow, "I bet your bluffing on that."

"I totally am," Mr. Styles laughs, "But Liam, I'm not much older than you. When I was your age, being in glee club was social suicide, but honestly, it was the highlight of my whole high school career. At first I thought it was the lamest thing ever, but then I realized that singing is so much fun because you can just take it and run with it in any direction you want."

Still indecisive on the whole ordeal, Liam just stares at him. Liam really didn't want to be expelled, but at the same time, he knew if he joined glee club, all of his friends would feel betrayed that he ditched them for the loser crowd of mouth breathing virgins.

"What happens if I don't want to join the glee club?" Liam inquired.

"Immediate expulsion," Mr. Styles decided, tapping his bitten-down fingernails on the desk, "So what's it going to be, Payne? Join the road of virtuoso arts or become a failure for the rest of your potential filled life?"

Exhaling audibly, Liam shakes his head and replies, "Sign me up for glee club. God, I can't believe I'm doing this."

"I can. Welcome to the Troubadours, Liam Payne."

♡

Liam had his first practice with the glee club two days later after school. After he and Mr. Styles shook hands, Liam retrieved the practice schedule, taking place every other day for an hour in the choir room downstairs. A date set six weeks from the current date was circled several times, and in the blank it read that it was the day sectionals were taking place. Whatever those were.

In casual Liam Payne fashion, he showed up in the choir room late, by no fault of his own, of course. The room was already filled with some boys Liam had seen around in the hallways, but no one he could place a name with a face.

"Oh, Liam, you finally decided to show," Mr. Styles retorted, smiling, "You're lucky Mr. Tomlinson is always late as well, or you would have gotten in major trouble!"

"Mr. Tomlinson sounds like my kind of guy," Liam quips, earning a laugh from his fellow classmates, and a scowl from Mr. Styles.

"That's enough, Payne, take a seat," Mr. Styles said with a more serious tone.

The door opens, and a man that Liam assumes is Mr. Tomlinson strolls in. Contrary to Mr. Styles, Mr. Tomlinson sports a tanner skin tone, dressed in a white button down and navy slacks. Mr. Tomlinson has light blue eyes, hiding behind long eyelashes and thick, black rimmed frames. Liam now understands why Mr. Styles got so defensive over him earlier.

"Looks like we've got quite the bunch here, eh, Mr. Styles?" Mr. Tomlinson inquires, placing a hand on his colleagues back. Liam swears that Mr. Styles melts to his touch, and he wonders if they've had sex yet, which isn't as weird as it sounds, because they're young and attractive, unlike most teachers at this school.

"A nice one, too," Mr. Styles answers, "I was messing around with different songs with them before you got here, and man, some of these boys can _sing_!"

Mr. Tomlinson's eyes widen in amusement, "Wonderful! I just need to hear the others, even though we'll probably end up accepting everyone anyway. We'll do auditions by last name," Mr. Tomlinson looks at the clipboard in front of him, "Ryan Ambler, you're up first! Everyone else, take a spot out in the hallway."

Liam files out behind the rest of the students, nervous jitters spiking through his body. He was _so_ not prepared to audition today.

When out in the hallway, Liam can get a better look at the people who will soon be apart of the same club as him. Most of them look pretty bland, with dull eyes and gelled hair that they probably had their mother do for them. Liam rolled his eyes, hoping that Mr. Tomlinson required a full make over for some of these boys, because they couldn't be taken seriously as performers if they all wore plaid button downs and khakis to school everyday.

But then Liam's eyes landed on someone who was different than the rest, but in a good way. This boy had a deeper skin tone, resembling the shade of caramel that you would find inside of a chocolate bar. His hair was raven black, quiffed back into an upward, mountainous slope. The boy had eyelashes for miles and eyes the color of coffee, and like Mr. Tomlinson, these features were concealed by wide framed glasses that somehow made him look more sophisticated and intimidating. His jaw was so defined that it could cut glass if it were put up to the task, and all Liam wanted to do was trace his fingers along it.

Liam realized that he may be overstepping his boundaries when the boy made eye contact with him. Liam tried to play it off cool, grinning weakly at him and saluting toward him with his hand. The boy blushed, hiding his face by his shoulder.

"Zayn Malik?" Mr. Tomlinson called through the door that had just opened. The boy that Liam was just explicitly ogling stood up, glancing over to Liam and giving him a flustered gaze. Before Liam had even realized it, the moment was over, and Zayn was ducking into the choir room with Mr. Tomlinson. 

Liam was next after Zayn, barely brushing shoulders with the shy boy as he entered the choir room himself. He saw it in a different light now that it was determining his future, or was it? Didn't Mr. Styles _have_ to accept him because this was for punishment?

"So, Payne, what do you want to sing?" Mr. Styles asked, his fingers propped eagerly above the keys.

"I can sing _anything_?" Liam asked, a coy facial expression of mischief forming on his face, "How about I lay down some verses from 'Ice Ice Baby'?"

Mr. Tomlinson sighed, giving Mr. Styles a look of displeasure.

" _Liam_. Remember what's at stake here." Mr. Styles warned, hitting Liam right in his weak spot.

"Okay. _Okay_ , fine. What about 'Cry Me a River' by Arthur Hamilton?" Liam inquires, crossing his arms and tapping his foot.

"Great choice," Mr. Tomlinson nods, "We're ready when you are."

Liam obliges, clearing his throat as he motions for Mr. Styles to start on the piano. When Liam starts to sing, he remembers what Mr. Styles said, music was something he could take and run with, in whatever way he wanted. So that's exactly what Liam did, he hit high notes when he was supposed to, and just let his voice flow with the music. This was a song that he had heard ever since he was young, his father and mother often singing it in the car along with the album. 

Nerves didn't get to him at all during the audition, luckily. Liam thought of it just like he thought of football, if he psyched himself out, he would play awful during the game. So Liam didn't think about it, letting the music taking over his body and soul for the duration of four minutes.

When the song was over, Liam inhaled deeply to regain the breath he'd lost while singing. He opened his eyes, not even realizing that he had been closing them for the duration of the audition. Mr. Tomlinson was standing amazed in front of him, and Mr. Styles was silently gloating to himself.

"That was unexpected," Mr. Tomlinson spoke, "Thanks, Liam, you can go now."

Liam nodded, going back out into the hallway. 

Deciding to continue his streak of being a risk taker, Liam scoped out where Zayn was sitting, and he made his way over to him. Liam plopped down on the floor next to the boy, beaming at the gorgeous boy.

"I don't think I've properly introduced myself, I'm Liam Payne," Liam said, holding out his hand for Zayn to take.

"I know who you are," Zayn replied, realizing what he said, and then becoming flustered, "Sorry, I'm Zayn." He introduced himself, grasping Liam's hand and shaking it.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a second, Liam deciding to try and converse with Zayn again, "So, what brings you to auditions? Do you have an actual interest in music or are you just here to make up for some trouble you got into?"

Zayn gives Liam a confused gaze, "Uh, for the music. I've been singing since I was a kid, but I was always too afraid to try. Decided high school would be one of my last chances to get into it before I'm out in the real world."

"Incredible, I like a man with ambition," Liam winks.

"Apparently you like a lot of types of men," Zayn retorts, his voice oozing with sarcasm.

Liam's jaw drops, his mouth agape in awe at Zayn's already-sour attitude toward him. Liam is aware that he doesn't look like the rest of the boys trying out for the glee club, and he wouldn't even be here in the first place if he wasn't in trouble, but there was no need to be rude about it.

"That's a very bold statement, Malik. I wasn't really expecting that from you, you seem timid and shy," Liam retaliated, flabbergasted at his behavior.

"And I wasn't really expecting _you_ to be trying out for glee club, but people surprise you, eh?" Zayn smirked cockily, "So, let me ask you the same thing, what are _you_ here for?"

Liam shrugged, making up an answer on the spot, "It's all about the music."

"Nice try, Justin Bieber, but you're still not convincing me."

"Are you making fun of my hair?" 

"What I'm _saying_ is that you never seemed like the type to drop your sportsperson persona to join the glee club, whom of which you were bullying just last year. I just find it hard to believe that you decided to come here with no loophole in play.

"I've had a change of heart," Liam puts his hand on his chest, nodding his head.

"Or a change of-"

"Alright boys! The list of who made it and who didn't is taped to the podium!" Mr. Tomlinson said, interrupting another one of Zayn's witty comebacks.

Zayn stands up, looking down at Liam, "Sorry, Biebs, but I've got to go reclaim my spot as the Troubadours lead. See you around, maybe."

Liam watches Zayn walk away, in wonder of his confident attitude that Liam didn't know was present in him. Nonetheless, Liam found something striking about Zayn Malik's will to aspire in the music pathway, and how he was willing to topple over anyone who came in the way of that. Liam thought this trait was intimidating, but somewhat attractive at the same time.

The rest of the day was like a dream, Liam walking into the choir room with his legs feeling like a bowl of jello. He couldn't exactly pinpoint why he was so nervous about making it, the split thought that maybe he actually enjoyed singing made itself known in his mind, but he pushed that thought away. Being an active member in the glee club was for punishment purposes only, and Liam was going to make sure that he remembered that.

But all of that faded away when Liam saw the list, his name being the second below Zayn Malik's. For a couple seconds, the world had completely stopped, everyone in and around it frozen in time. Liam was stunned on how high up on the list he was, and that he even made it.

Okay, so maybe Liam cared about glee club  _little_ bit.

♡

Nevertheless, over the next following weeks, Liam learned to love the art of glee club, learning all about dynamic and tone and how to use his voice. Mr. Tomlinson insisted that Liam had one of the strongest voices of the Troubadours, next to Zayn Malik. Liam grimaced at the mention of Zayn, the two of them still not getting along as well as Liam had hoped, but unfortunately, Liam found himself forming a massive crush on the boy.

The crush was a minor thing at first, Liam attempting to force himself out of liking his supposed arch enemy in the club. Thoughts of Zayn clouded Liam's thoughts when he was in class, during dinner with his parents, and when he was trying to drift off into sleep at night. Zayn was like a thief in the night, coming by surprise at the most unexpected time, stealing every last bit of sanity that Liam stored within him. Liam, of course, wouldn't care if it were anyone else, because he was freakin' big shot Liam Payne, but that didn't cut it with Zayn Malik. Being the infamous Liam Payne was what made Zayn _dislike_ Liam, and Liam was hoping for an opportunity to turn this sad fate around.

Liam's prayers must have been answered by the god's above (i.e. Mr. Tomlinson and Mr. Styles), who decided to do a project involving duets. Mr. Tomlinson let the boys draw their partners names on Popsicle sticks out of a cup, whoever's name written on the sliver of wood in marker would be who they would have to sing with in front of the entire glee club.

Zayn was first to draw, since he was the main vocalist and all. Zayn exaggerated his movements, dramatically pulling a stick from the cup and looking at it, long and hard. Zayn's face softened, then turned to exasperation as he met eyes with Liam.

"So, Zayn? Who's your duet partner?" Mr. Styles inquires, leaning against the hood of his piano.

Zayn doesn't speak for a second, giving Liam one last glare before responding, "Biebs."

Mr. Tomlinson and Mr. Styles share a glance before Mr. Tomlinson speaks up, "Who would Biebs be, again?"

Zayn nods his head toward Liam.

Mr. Styles smirks, looking off to the side and biting his lip to restrain laughter, or something. 

"Alright, so we have Zayn and Liam! Who's next to draw?" Mr. Tomlinson asked, holding out the cup to the rest of the club.

"Long time, no talk," Zayn called from across the room, picking up his book bag and moving it over to where Liam was seated. "How's the Biebs been keeping up? Been to jail, lately?" Zayn guffaws, but Liam just shows a blank expression, silently wondering if he wants to rip Zayn's head off or his clothes. Zayn huffs out a breath, his bottom lip sticking out further than his top one in a sad puppy kind of way before he says, "Look, Liam, I'm just messing with you. Lighten up."

Liam rolls his eyes, deciding he's being petty with the silent treatment.

"Okay," Liam obliges, resituating himself in his seat.

Zayn examines him for a second, and then changes the subject, "Song choices, what are you thinking about?"

"I don't know."

"Come on, Liam. I said I'm sorry. You can't exactly ignore me through this, unless you want to be placed at the bottom of the glee club chart. It's quite a large fall from number two, I gotta say. I'm impressed with you," Zayn admits, shrugging his shoulders and slapping his hands onto his thighs, "What else do I gotta do for you to forgive me? Make us hot chocolate and pop in the first season of Gossip Girl? Pour out my heart and soul?"

Liam sighs, "No, you don't have to do any of that. I guess I'm just being shitty, even though you did apologize."

"So are we even?" Zayn begged, "Am I going to have to get down on my knees?"

"For begging or blowing?" Liam remarked, raising his eyebrow and leaning back into his seat.

Zayn gapes at this statement, and then his cheeks fluster the color of hell.

"Ah, so maybe I've finally found what Malik's weak spot is, sex. Oh boy, this is going to be fun," Liam joked.

"There's the Liam I know and hate! Welcome back, mate, I thought your creepy cyborg twin had taken over your body for a while there," Zayn laughed while pretending to wipe his brow.

Liam beamed, wondering to himself why he ever dreaded getting paired up with Zayn.

Mr. Tomlinson interrupted this turning point in Zayn and Liam's relationship, voicing loudly, "These duets better be ready to perform by next practice! By Friday, have every single note down. This may or may not be a secret competition to determine spots for sectionals."

"Shit," Zayn whispered, "We're going to have to work with each other outside of school. I don't think my AP teachers would be too happy about me skipping out on class this late in the semester."

Liam gritted his teeth, the mention of skipping classes bringing back to the whole reason why he was even deciding on duet choices with Zayn Malik. 

"Do you have any time after school? Because I'm free for the next two days," Liam requested.

"I should be on Thursday, but not tonight. My mum organized some huge party for something that has to do with work tonight and she really needs me to be there. I don't even want to go, but I can't really upset my mum, you know? Shit, fuck. We're screwed, oh man, I'm going to have to forfeit sections and-"

" _Zayn_ , chill out," Liam interrupts, "It's fine, you can drive home with me Thursday after school. I have a piano at my house and everything, we're going to be okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive.

"Are you saying that the famous Liam Payne doesn't have any plans other than to hang out with glee geek Zayn Malik?" Zayn questions, his eyes dazzling the same way they always do when he's poking fun at Liam. Flirting, maybe.

"Well, I just asked the famous Liam Payne, and he said that he was honored to be spending the evening with apparent glee geek Zayn Malik," Liam simpers.

Maybe Zayn wasn't as much of an arrogant dickhead as Liam originally thought.

♡

During school hours, Thursday was the equivalent to the last day of school before summer lets out. Liam was extremely anxious, tapping his pencil rapidly against his desk in all of his classes, and repeatedly checking the clocks to wonder when the hell he was going to escape this prison. But more importantly, Liam was so apprehensive because Zayn was coming home with him after school. This was a big deal for Liam, considering that his Zayn Malik infatuation hadn't died down within the last day like he had hoped, it had grown stronger.

Soon enough, the school day came to a close, and Liam found himself waiting on the sidewalk for Zayn. It had been five minutes since they agreed to meet each other, and Liam realized that maybe there was someone out there that might actually be more behind schedule than he was.

Right on cue, Zayn was pushing through the doors of the Fine Arts division of the school.

"Sorry I was late, I ran into some guys from glee club and they were trying to squeeze out information about our duet. Can you believe it?" Zayn laughs.

"Probably because we're the best," Liam gloats, pulling his keys out of his pocket and unlocking his Volvo like the soccer mom he secretly was on the inside.

"Nice car, is it your mothers?" Zayn snickers, tossing his backpack into the rear seat and sitting in the passenger side.

Liam rolls his eyes, "Original! Not like I've heard _that_ one before."

"You're asking for it by driving a Volvo, you're a high school student who plays football, not a single mother who supports her shitty seven year old son," Zayn quipped, tittering softly to himself.

"Then next time we'll take _your_ car," Liam bantered, not realizing what he said until a second later. "I mean, if you want-"

"Please, Biebs, if I were you, I'd want to spend all my time with me too," Zayn replied, placing a hand on Liam's shoulder, "Now drive, we've got to have as much practice time as the universe allows us."

♡

After about a half hour of arguing about song choices back at the house, Liam and Zayn were down to their final two. 

"I'm really rooting for 'I Got You Babe', it's unlike anything the Troubadours have ever done before. Everyone always wants to do 'I've Had the Time of My Life'." Zayn argues, shooting Liam a glare from the brown recliner. 

Liam scoffs, "But it's such a classic, and we could totally pull it off!"

"Everyone is going to jump on it as soon as possible, though. Liam, I've been in glee club longer than you have, and I watch the damn show. I _know_ that it's going to be everyone's first choice."

"Fine, _fine_. Damn you and your leadership wisdom."

Zayn accepts the compliment silently, then speaks, "But I don't want to force you into doing a song you don't want to. It'll sound...forced."

"Then let's choose one together," Liam suggests.

"Before we do so, can I share an idea with you?"

"Of course, Master Malik."

Zayn stares at Liam, "First of all, never call me Master Malik again. It's weird."

"Done," Liam agrees.

"Second, how about we make a duet out of a non-duet song?" Zayn proposed, his dark eyes immediately lighting up with passion, "Love songs are going to be the main theme of people's song choices, but we could go for something a little more racy."

"Sex?" Liam asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Right."

"But isn't sex like, your weak spot? I don't know, I thought I made you really uncomfortable earlier when-"

"It did, and I was, but when it comes to music, there's no boundaries for me," Zayn explains, shrugging his shoulders, "I don't know, it's really weird."

"That's understandable," Liam said, even though he wished it wasn't, "So what do you have in mind?"

Zayn taps his chin, sitting up straighter, "What about a classic that everyone and their mother knows? Something at least a couple decades old, and sex is purely the theme of the song, but its oblivious in the same sense. Got any ideas?"

Liam thinks for a minute, racking his brain for song choices that could fit Zayn's description. Finally he comes up with a good answer, even though Zayn will probably shoot it down anyway.

"The only thing that's coming to mind is 'Like a Virgin' by Madonna," Liam puts forward, watching Zayn's facial expression for a reaction. At first, Zayn looks confused, his bottom lip pouty and his dark eyebrows scrunched together. Then, the look changes into one of consideration, and eventually a smile of delight. 

"That's actually a really good suggestion, Liam! I may or may not know all the lyrics already, we'll just have to figure out which parts go to who. Oh, this is perfect!" Zayn exclaims, nearly turbo jumping off the recliner.

"If we want this to be good, we better get to work, then," Liam advocates.

♡

The performance of duets goes quite well, Liam and Zayn obviously gaining the leads for sectionals. Mr. Tomlinson and Mr. Styles were very pleased with the very unique song choice and style they brought to the glee club. Zayn was correct also, at least three groups sang 'I Had the Time of My Life' and did pretty good jobs, except for the fact that all of the performances sounded exactly the same with no special twist. As Mr. Tomlinson put it, Liam and Zayn obtained a creative uniqueness that some of the other members lacked, and that's what made them stand out among the crowd.

Following duets was a week of regular practice, full of random performances to songs of different varieties. Then Mr. Tomlinson announced his next big project for the glee club to take on.

"For this weeks assignment, I want you guys to mash up two unlikely songs and make it totally your own. It could be something as variant as 'Candy Shop' by 50 Cent with a My Chemical Romance song. It doesn't matter to me or Mr. Styles, we just want to see what you guys can do. We'll perform on Friday afternoon!"

James, a freshman with dark hair raised his hand, "Mr. Tomlinson, do you want us to partner up?"

"Of course! Working with someone else is always better. You can choose this time, the duet round was just a way to get you guys to know each other better."

James nods, and people begin pairing up.

"Psst, Biebs," Liam hears from his seat, and his head darts over to the direction where the whispering is coming from. Zayn is waving at him and grinning wide enough that his eyes actually closed with his smile. Liam forgets how to breathe. "Come work with me, Biebs. The duet duo can't be separated!"

Liam laughs to himself and shakes his head, gathering up his things and moving closer to where Zayn was sitting.

"Geez, I thought you'd never come! Afraid I had been ditched for someone less cooler hair." Zayn said with offense to his tone.

"Never! If anyone were going to ditch anyone, it would be you to me. I'm not exactly the coolest guy around either."

"True, you _do_ drive a Volvo."

"Hey," Liam smiles, making Zayn laugh at his own joke, "Enough with the car jokes, you'll hurt her feelings."

"You are like, one strange man child. I don't know how I ever thought you were some arrogant, meat head football player. You're really something, Liam Payne." Zayn said, complimenting Liam for, like, the first time in their entire friendship.

"Thanks, I think," Liam accepted, "So, anyway, I think this project should be pretty easy. When I was like, thirteen, I used to mash up random songs when I was just hanging out in my room, and I've got some nice ones I can name off the top of my head." Liam suggests, laying his idea right out on the playing field.

"Tell me, I'd love to hear about your thirteen year old fantasies." 

Liam hesitates before speaking, but then shakes it off and continues, "I was thinking we could mash up 'No One' by Alicia Keys with 'Hey Soul Sister' by Train. It seems like an unlikely match, but trust me, it works like a charm."

"Okay, we'll put that down in our list of suggestions," Zayn replied, pulling a notebook from his bag, "How about I come home with you after school so we can finish up the planning process, that alright with you?" Zayn asked, and Liam swears his heart is going to beat out of his chest.

"Of course!" Liam agrees, "You know, you can just drop by whenever you want. I mean, we are friends, right?"

Zayn smiled, looking down at his lap, and then lifting his head back up toward Liam, "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

♡

Thursday night, Zayn and Liam were putting the final touches on their mash up performance. They had gone with Liam's original idea, combining the R&B hit 'No One' with 'Hey Soul Sister', and it had turned out quite perfect. Zayn took over the first half of the song, then the both of them shared the harmonies in the transition, and the last part was given to Liam. All together, it sounded gloriously ideal, like the songs themselves were written to be together.

"Let's have one last run through, then we can just chill out for a while," Liam proposes, waiting for Zayn's approval.

Zayn agrees from atop the hood of the piano, beginning to sing and before they know it, the song is over. Sometime in the duration of the song, Liam had gotten _really_ close to Zayn, close enough that he could see how thick and dark his eyelashes were, and the flecks of gold that rested around Zayn's pupils. He could also see the curve of his upper lip and how soft they looked, and Liam wondered how they would feel pressing on his own.

The longing for  this moment became unbearable, and with that, Liam was pressing his lips up to Zayn's. The kiss came as a surprise to Zayn, only a few seconds earlier he was being serenaded by the boy of his dreams, and now he was actually _kissing_ him.

Liam tilted Zayn's head upward, tracing his fingers along the bottom of his jaw and under his chin like he wanted to do ever since he first saw him. Zayn was ruffling his hands through Liam's short, waving hair, tugging him closer into the moment of passion. Liam moaned into Zayn's mouth, causing him to lean backward in a forty five degree angle to the piano. 

Zayn was the first to break away from the kiss, looking up at Liam, who's pupils were blown to the size of baby worlds. 

"Oh, wow," Zayn muttered out, breathless, "Is that part of the performance now?"

Liam laughs awkwardly, his face heating up like an oven, "I don't think Mr. Tomlinson would appreciate it that much. Sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"Don't apologize, Liam, I swear to god," Zayn warned, "That was all kinds of perfect."

"I'm glad you thought so too," Liam beamed, running a hand through his tussled hair, "Would it be bad that I want to do it again?"

Zayn gave Liam an elated grin, and giggled, "No, because I want to too, but we should probably save all of our energy for the performance tomorrow. After that, we can kiss all you want."

"Great," Liam responds, not being able to wipe the smile off his face, "Say, are you doing anything after glee club tomorrow? I'd love to take you out somewhere other than the choir room or the Volvo."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Zayn agrees.

"Call it a date then," Liam replied, the never-ending butterflies in his stomach telling him that maybe life was starting to look on the bright side for him.

♡

Friday's mash up performance was possibly one of the most exciting in the last four weeks, consisting of wild outfit choices and ridiculous song choices. One group of boys actually decided to go with the Vanilla Ice/My Chemical Romance idea that Mr. Tomlinson provided, putting a rock spin on 'Ice Ice Baby'. Some other popular performances included a Spice Girls/Disney mash up and a Panic! at the Disco/Janet Jackson duo. Overall the performances were a huge success, leaving everyone joyful and buzzed for the rest of the evening.

But Liam and Zayn were ecstatic for another occurrence, their first date. Liam had made reservations at an exclusive outdoor restaurant out by the lake. Liam, of course, had to wear something nicer than usual to school today since their reservation was scheduled right after glee club. He was decked out in a plaid shirt and a pair of khakis, styling his hair in layers of waves across his forehead. This was the nicest Liam had appeared since his mother had dragged him along to her friends wedding, and that was over ten years ago.

Zayn, on the other hand, always dressed like he was either going to a fashion show or just like any normal teen did. Liam preferred when Zayn dressed down, usually in dark jeans and a Marvel shirt, his hair lying down on his forehead. Zayn called these days 'Laundry Days', but deep down Liam knew that Zayn loved to dress down just as much as he loved dressed up. But even thought Zayn looked gorgeous no matter what he wore, Liam still loved seeing Zayn in something more casual.

They drove to the restaurant, exploding with their own excitement. Everything went smoothly, conversation never running dry and the food tasting exquisite. Liam held Zayn's hand for the first time when they were paying the bill for the meal, and after that he took him out on the dock by the lake. The two of them sat on the wood planks, babbling about romantic things like where they wanted to go in life and their wildest dreams. They also kissed again, in the light of the autumn moon and with the trees rustling in the wind around them. A better night couldn't have been granted a million times by a genie who was fulfilling the wishes of a young romantic.

Driving Zayn home was a fun experience, Liam popping in his parent's old karaoke album and blasting it on high. Thankfully, Zayn knew the words to most of the songs, only having to cheat from the lyric book when Liam wasn't looking. 

When Liam dropped Zayn off on his front porch, they shared another kiss, and maybe a couple more. Liam pretended not to notice Zayn's younger sisters behind the front curtains, hoping to get a peak on Zayn's first date. Zayn told Liam he had a wonderful time, gave him his number, another peck on the cheek, and he was off. 

♡

The weekend went by in a whirlwind. On Saturday, Liam spent the day texting Zayn, since his mother had dragged him along to some political convention. Liam was usually bored out of his skull, listening to elderly representatives argue their stance on worldwide issues, but alas, Zayn came to Liam's rescue. At one point, they had a complete conversation with different pictures of strange people, until Liam ran out and practically had tears rolling down his cheeks from trying to contain his laughter. His mother wasn't too pleased with his behavior, but she knew Zayn was making him happier, so she kept her mouth shut.

Sunday was bound to be a lazy day, rain pattering on the rooftop and basically flooding the outside in downpour. Liam gave Zayn a call and asked him if he would like to come over and have a Netflix day, where he would come over and they'd watch the most random movies available on the streaming site. Zayn obliged, saying that he would drive over as soon as possible.

Zayn arrived about twenty minutes later, dressed in a dark Spider-Man t shirt and a pair of dark skinny jeans, and Liam could feel his head getting dizzy by how good he looked.

"Hey," Zayn smiled, ducking into the doorway and collapsing his umbrella.

"Hey yourself," Liam replied, wrapping Zayn into a hug, "You can get comfortable in the living room, I'll get us some snacks."

Liam escapes to the kitchen, smiling to himself as he puts popcorn in the microwave and raids the snack pantry. Liam gets a tray, and stacks it as high as he can with different assortments of sweets and junk food. When the popcorn is done, he pours it into a large bowl and places it in the middle of the tray. He grabs the both of them drinks and he's ready to go, carefully balancing the tray on his arms.

When Zayn sees him, he laughs and asks, "What the hell, did you rob a candy store?"

"What are you going to do, Spider-Man? Wrap me up in a web for eating too much candy?" Liam teases, plopping down on the couch next to Zayn.

"No, but I could punish you later," Zayn winks, snatching a bag of sour patch kids off the top of the candy mountain.

Liam stares at Zayn, stunned, "Was that a sexual innuendo?"

"People surprise you, eh?" Zayn replied.

The two of them ended up watching several movies, each one worse than the last. First in the series was this cartoon that Liam found on accident while looking for something to listen to while he studied. Unfortunately, he stumbled across an awful rendition of the Avengers movie, and he made that the first choice of the afternoon. The entirety of the movie was full of anger from both Liam and Zayn, resulting in half the bowl of popcorn ending up in front of the television. 

During the second movie, being about a tire that had telepathic powers, Liam and Zayn found it incredibly boring, interesting occurrences only happening every once in a while. They kept themselves pretty occupied, sharing sticky, sweet kisses in front of the television. They hadn't even noticed that the movie had ended since were so wrapped up in each other.

Sadly, they hadn't noticed when Liam's mother came home from work either.

"Liam, honey? Are you-oh." Mrs. Payne said, walking in on her son with his tongue down Zayn's throat.

"Hey! Mum!" Liam exclaimed, nearly falling off the couch in embarrassment, "Have you...uh, met Zayn?" Liam asked, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans and pointing to Zayn, who was still sitting on the couch.

"Oh, hello, Zayn! Nice to meet you, I'm Liam's mother," Mrs. Payne said, stepping over the blankets on the floor to shake Zayn's hand.

Zayn looked dazed, his cheeks red and his lips puffy as he spoke, "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Payne, I'm Liam's...friend."

Liam would be lying if he said he wasn't crushed by the word 'friend' because what they were doing five minutes ago wasn't considered a friendly gesture.

"Liam? How about you have your friend stay for dinner?" Mrs. Payne asked, smiling widely at her son. Liam swears that he sees her wink.

"I don't know, do you want to stay for dinner, Zayn?" 

"If that's alright with you guys!" Zayn agrees, "Thanks, Mrs. Payne."

Mrs. Payne grins, "Oh, any time, Zayn. Well, I'll leave you two alone. I have to start cooking before your father gets home anyway." Mrs. Payne said, and with that, she was gone.

Zayn stayed for dinner, and Liam was amazed at how well he got on with his parents. They talked about school and glee club, but mostly about school, because Zayn was some sort of mastermind. All of his classes were AP, so his parents appreciated that. After dinner, Liam's mother pulled him into the kitchen and told him she was glad he was making better friends.

Yeah, it was something like that.

♡

Over the course of the last five weeks before sectionals, Liam came to grow close with everyone in glee club, not only Zayn. Liam felt like if he ever had to rely on someone for advice, it would have to be someone who shows up in the choir room every other day after school. 

So during Mr. Styles' planning block, Liam decided to ask his teacher if he could go to the bathroom. It wasn't exactly skipping since he had permission to leave the room, so he couldn't be held accountable for it, right?

Thankfully, Mr. Styles was alone in the choir room. Liam knocked on the door quietly, asking, "Hey, Mr. Styles? Are you busy with anything?"

Mr. Styles looks up from his computer, clicking off of something and turning his attention back to Liam, "Not currently, what's up?"

"A lot of things, I guess." Liam admitted, biting his lip.

"Well, I've got time," Mr. Styles said, sounding strangely like a psychiatrist, "If that's what you're here for, that is."

"Yeah, I kind of need someone to talk to, because I don't really have a lot of friends besides people in glee club, and they're not really who I want to talk to about this kind of stuff." Liam said, pulling up a chair and placing it in front of the desk.

"This sounds serious!" Mr. Styles laughs, "Are you sure you want to talk to _me_ about this?"

"Yes, it has to do with the Troubadours as a whole, and maybe a little bit about myself," Liam replied, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

It quiet for a second, but then Mr. Styles breaks the silence, "I'm waiting for you to start."

"Oh, right. Sorry. So I was just freaking out about some stuff, I guess? I don't know. If you haven't noticed, I have this _huge_ crush on Zayn and things are great, but the other night he was at my house, and he said that we were just friends? It's been messing me up ever since and I don't know, it's stupid." Liam said, pouring out his heart and then some.

"Truth be told, I'm in the same situation right now, so I can totally relate to you," Mr. Styles admits.

"Mr. Tomlinson?" Liam guesses, and Mr. Styles nods. "Knew it! Man, I remember the first day I walked in here, I thought you guys were like, together."

"Really? Oh, no. He's too good for me, probably. Undoubtedly. Yeah."

"You sound unsure."

"I don't really want to say anything, it's kind of embarrassing, and plus, isn't this like, illegal? I'm your teacher, sort of," Mr. Styles said, his face screwing up in confusion.

"What do you think I'm going to do? Why would I tell anyone about your problems when I can't even fix my own?" Liam asked.

"That's true, and you're a good kid. So, should I continue?" Mr. Styles inquires, pushing his curls out of his face.

"Go ahead," Liam orders, sitting back in his chair.

"Mr. Tomlinson and I have been friends for a really long time, right? And everyone thinks we're dating, and we've done...couple stuff before. But every time I ask him about it, he says that he's just too busy for a relationship in this point of his life. I don't understand why we couldn't be together, though, since we _do_ spend every waking hour together in this choir room, right?" Mr. Styles pours out, leaving his heart lying on his sleeve for Liam to see.

"Right, that seems a little ridiculous," Liam admits, "Maybe he's wanting to ask you? I'm not really sure."

"If he wanted to do that, he could have just asked already. He's had a dozen different chances to make his move and finalize the entire ordeal."

"Mr. Tomlinson seems like a sap," Liam stated, "Is he a sap? I bet he is. He's probably waiting for a special moment to make things official. I find it unbelievable that he couldn't have feelings for you, though. He looks at you like you're the sun."

Mr. Styles grins, "Thanks, Liam. I'm praying that that's why, and not because there's nothing there at all. But anyway, you came here to talk about you, and not my adult problems. So what's bothering _you_?"

Liam bites his lip, not knowing where to start. "Well, I mentioned Zayn earlier, right? Yeah, ever since that whole partners thing, we've gotten over our angst and we've started liking each other, I think. We went out on a couple dates and we've kissed a lot, but you know the rest."

"He friend zoned you?" Mr. Styles asks, and Liam nods in response, "Was there anyone else around that he would have had to say that for?"

Liam thinks back to Sunday, when he was introducing Zayn to his mum and he said that dreaded line.

"My mum," Liam recalls.

"That's probably why. Does Zayn know your mother knows you are or are not gay?" Mr. Styles queried.

"I don't think so," Liam says, wondering if he told Zayn that he had came out to his mum.

"Then you've got nothing to worry about. You _did_ say that you've kissed him before, right?" 

"Yeah, actually right before she came home we were." Liam murmurs.

Mr. Styles pretends like he didn't hear the rest of that comment, and continues, "Liam, you've been over thinking this whole thing. If you've been on dates and you've kissed each other, you have nothing to worry about. It's just not official yet."

"But didn't you say that you and Mr. Tomlinson have done stuff like that?" Liam asks.

Mr. Styles doesn't respond to that statement.

"Anyway, thanks. I'll ask him about it later, and I'm going to tell him exactly how I feel, even though he probably already knows, since I did have my tongue down his throat a couple days ago." Liam stated aloud.

"Thanks for sharing, Liam," Mr. Styles grimaces, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Sorry. Hey, can we talk about something else? I don't want to go back to the last ten minutes of trig," Liam asked, glancing at the clock that was placed on the wall above Mr. Styles' head.

"Sure! Mr. Tomlinson finally decided on the song choices, by the way. I meant to call you in here anyway to tell you that."

"What are they?" 

Mr. Styles pulled a piece of paper from a binder on top of the desk, and passed it to Liam. Liam read over the list with anticipation, seeing that 'The Way You Look Tonight' and 'When I Get You Alone' had made it to the final cut.

"These are great! Everyone in the Troubadours loves them, including me," Liam grins, passing the list back to Mr. Styles.

"See, Liam, if I hadn't found you drunk in the school basement and hadn't given you the punishment of joining the Troubadours, you wouldn't be getting excited over song choices with me right now!" Mr. Styles teases, and Liam erupts in laughter.

"Funny how things work out, isn't it?" Liam responds, and then the bell rings, "Oh, I've got to get to homeroom. I'll see you at practice tomorrow, Mr. Styles. Thanks again, for everything." Liam gets up from his seats and begins to head out.

"Always. Remember what you said you were going to do!" Mr. Styles yells as Liam exits the room.

When Liam pushes through the door, he spots Zayn standing somewhat close to the door. This was Liam's chance, he was going to tell Zayn exactly how he felt and he was going to tell him he wanted a relationship. 

"Hey, Zayn! Just the person I wanted to talk to-"

"You were _forced_ to join glee club because you were found _drunk_ in the school basement?" Zayn poses, his voice filled with hurt.

Liam is shocked by what Zayn just said to him, and doesn't even know how to respond, because it was the truth.

"It's not what it sounds like, Zayn. I _love_ being in the Troubadours, but that was just a little push to-"

"You've been lying to me this entire time! You told me that everything was all about the music for you. How could you do that, Liam? Was this all part of community service act?"

"No! Zayn just let me explain-"

"Was your relationship with me a scheme to help yourself get better? Was I some sort of rehab to you?" Zayn interrupts, and Liam can't even formulate an answer, because he has no idea where Zayn is getting all these ideas from.

"Zayn! Please," Zayn goes to turn away, tears brimming his eyes, but Liam touches his arm softly, "I promise, I never meant to hurt you. I love glee club, and I think I might I love _you_. That's what I wanted to tell you but you won't listen to me! At first this was Mr. Styles' choice but I ended up getting such a passion for something that I never knew I could have."

"So you're admitting it? That this was just a plot for you to stay out of trouble?"

Liam sighs, "Yes, it was. But I'm such a better person now, and do you know why-?"

"I'm done here. I guess people really do surprise you, eh?" Zayn replied dramatically, yanking his arm from Liam's light grasp, and he begins to walk away.

"It was because of you, Zayn! You're the reason why I'm stronger! It was always _you_!" Liam shouts like the hopeless romantic he had become, watching Zayn walk away. Liam swears that he sees Zayn slow down for a second, willing himself to turn around and run back into Liam's arms, but that's not the case. 

He just keeps walking.

♡

The Troubadours last practice on Thursday was different, Zayn still giving Liam the silent treatment after the events of what had gone down the day before. Avoiding each other was difficult at practice, deleting text messages or ignoring calls from the inside of their bedrooms was much easier than singing with that other person.

'When I Get You Alone' wasn't as difficult to sing because it was Zayn's solo with the rest of the club backing him up, even Liam. But when the two had to put their strong front on and duo up for 'The Way You Look Tonight', things got so much more awkward, the both of them standing opposite of each other, attempting to get the song over with.

"Tomorrow at the show, you guys are going to have to act a lot more social on stage. That was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever seen, it's like you _hated_ each other." Mr. Tomlinson noted after practice.

 _If he only knew_ , Liam thought to himself.

♡

The entire glee club had to be at the high school an hour earlier than usual the day of sectionals so they could board the bus. Sectionals were held almost two hours away, and the show started at ten in the morning. All contestants were required to be there by eight thirty for practice time, costumes and makeup, and a final run through before the show.

Liam hadn't even bothered to change that morning, wearing the same sweatpants he slept in and the exact pullover he cried himself to sleep inside of the night before.

The bus ride was awkward, full of joyful singing and excitement, but the two most important members were silent, sitting opposite of each other in uncomfortable quietude. Zayn was asleep on his book bag, which was probably filled with clothes and an ungodly amount of hair products. Liam, on the other hand, had his music turned up all the way, and he may or may not have been listening to an audio he recorded of him and Zayn singing their mash up.

♡

"Liam? May I speak with you for a moment?" Mr. Styles asks as they're unloading the bus. 

Liam nods, walking toward Mr. Styles.

"Is everything alright? I take it that you spoke to Zayn?"

"You mean you didn't hear?" Liam states, his face softening into surprise. He's shocked that Mr. Styles didn't hear the argument between he and Zayn, nonetheless the entire school.

"No? Am I missing something? Both of you seem so lifeless." Mr. Styles frowns.

Liam sighs, and he can feel his voice getting shaky before he even speaks, "Zayn found out that I only got into the Troubadours because I got in trouble at school, but he didn't even give me time to explain! The whole argument was just so ridiculous." 

"I can understand where he's coming from, he _is_ really passionate about music."

Liam shoots him a death glare.

" _But_ , he should have at least let you tell your side of the story. This may sound really rude, but can you at least try to get along today, though? Or work things out somehow? Don't make me and Mr. Tomlinson force you guys into an intervention or something, because things get _ugly_ when Mr. Tomlinson gets involved. He's not as sentimental as I am." Mr. Styles jokes.

"Which is exactly why you guys would be an amazing couple," Liam teases, smiling for the first time in the last 16 hours, "I'll talk to him about acting to like me on stage, but beside that, I don't think it's going to work out."

"It'll work out, Liam, trust me. It always does." Mr. Styles said, putting a hand on Liam's shoulder.

Liam hoped that Mr. Styles was right.

♡

Working up the courage to be the bigger person was something that Liam was having trouble with when he was in the dressing room of the performance building. He had been intently staring at Zayn for at least three minutes now, watching him sit leaned up against the wall, his eyes closed and music blasting through his headphones. Liam swore he was listening to John Mayer.

Finally, Liam got off his seat, legs wobbly as he walked toward the one that he loved the most, but the one who probably resented him the most at the moment.

Liam sat down next to him, just like he did on that first day, and Zayn looked over at him in the same way, but this time, his eyes signed that he was more broken and displeased to see Liam.

"Zayn, can you please listen to me for a second? The fate of the Troubadours is in our hands for today," Liam starts, knowing that he has Zayn's attention, "We have to at least _act_ like we like each other on stage, because if we don't, the judges will know that there's something up. They always know, it's probably all that body language shit. Anyway, please, I know at this point you totally resent me, but just for today, we have to get over that."

Zayn doesn't reply for a few seconds, but sits in silence and looks like he's about to cry again. Liam's heart is breaking as he says, "Fine, but this performance is the last thing I want to have to do with you."

For a second, Liam doesn't even blame him.

♡

The other team's performances go by in a whirlwind, the Troubadours hearing every note and flub from backstage. Liam is certain that they have this in the bag.

"This is it, boys! This is what we've trained for!" Mr. Tomlinson exclaims, clapping rapidly, "Let's go get 'em, boys!"

Everyone cheers, adrenaline and nerves being the common theme among the room, but Liam finds himself barely being able to crack a smile. Liam spots Zayn in the crowd of boys, his eyes shifted toward the floor and his arms crossed across his uniform. Liam thinks he looks pathetic, and all he wants to do is cover him in kisses to make this all go away.

Liam's attention is taken away by the sound of the announcer's voice, and then they're off to the stage.

The boys file onto the stage one by one, half of them retreating to their destined microphones in the back, and the rest taking the ones up front. Zayn stood front and center, waiting for the rest of the Troubadours to start the acapella part of the song.

The performance goes fast, Zayn absolutely killing the 2002 hit by Robin Thicke. The women in the crowd went absolutely crazy, and so did some of the men. Liam got a little jealous, but then deep down he remembered that Zayn wasn't his.

After the applause, Liam took his microphone off the stand and walked up toward Zayn, making direct eye contact with him for the first time in the past day. Liam was afraid he wouldn't be able to perform from dying of lack of oxygen, because Zayn looked absolutely gorgeous, standing there in front of him.

Ironically, they were singing 'The Way You Look Tonight'. Wonderful.

The Troubadours began the beautiful acapella background music, queuing for Liam to start singing soon. Liam took one last breath, and jumped into the song.

"There was a time..." Liam sang, holding his microphone at the perfect level, not being able to break the prolonged eye contact with Zayn.

This wasn't just performing anymore, this was Liam falling in love with himself, the music, and most importantly, Zayn.

Zayn joined in for the chorus, the two of them rotating around the stage like planets in orbit, neither losing sight of what was important, each other.

Sometime between Zayn's verse and the second chorus, they gravitated toward each other, like they were two magnets being pulled together by the hands of fate. 

In this exact moment, under the light of the stage and in the eyes of at least a thousand people, Liam felt himself falling in love with Zayn all over again, and he didn't care what he had to say about it.

The song ended before either one of them knew it, standing barely a few feet apart, microphones still held in place.

Applause roared through the auditorium, screams and standing ovations apparent hearing wise, but Liam wasn't really sure, because he was still staring at Zayn. 

Zayn only moved his arm to wipe a tear that was escaping his eye, and Liam mouthed, 'I'm sorry, I love you'.

Zayn nodded in response, and smiled the happiest he could.

As the audience stopped cheering, the boys ushered off stage and back into their dressing room where Mr. Tomlinson and Mr. Styles were waiting, smiling from ear to ear.

"You guys did so good! I think we definitely took the spot a regionals this year! I mean, the chemistry on stage and with the audience was just phenomenal! That's definitely what's going to teeter us over the edge for the next step in competition!" Mr. Tomlinson rambled, and Liam swore this was the bubbliest he's seen him all year.

Mr. Styles approached Liam and Zayn, pulling them into a group hug, "I'm so proud of your boys! I've _never_ seen a performance so simple but intimate at the same time. You two have some amazing chemistry."

"Thanks, it's all about the music," Zayn said, which left Liam's jaw agape, but he laughed it off and urged Liam to laugh too.

Mr. Styles took the hint, winking at Liam, and then walked away.

Liam turned to Zayn, and began apologizing, "Zayn, I'm sorry I-"

"No, Liam, _I'm_ sorry," Zayn interrupted, biting his lip, "I completely freaked out on you and I wouldn't even let you explain. I treated you like shit."

"Yeah, you kinda did. But we're over that now, right?" Liam queried hopefully.

"Of course, can we go back to being friends, now? I'm tired of crying over this, it's stupid," Zayn laughed, rubbing a tear from his eye.

Liam rolled his eyes, smirking and moving in closer to Zayn, "Just friends?"

Zayn sighed out of relief, wiping pretend sweat from his brow, "Geez, I thought you were never going to get the hint."

"I'm pretty sure I got the hint when we went on a date and proceeded to play tonsil hockey," Liam teases, leaning into Zayn and pecking him lightly on the cheek, but Zayn pulls him in closer for a bigger kiss. 

This moment of passion is interrupted by a manly screech coming a few feet away, followed by about a million variations of the word 'yes'. Liam pulls away from Zayn, following the sound to see Mr. Styles and Mr. Tomlinson in the back corner of the room. Mr. Tomlinson is smiling like Liam has never seen before, watching Mr. Styles act like a complete idiot.

"Let me guess, you _finally_ asked him to be your boyfriend?" Zayn asked, directing it toward Mr. Tomlinson.

"Yes, I told you, I've been waiting for just the right time," Mr. Tomlinson shrugs.

"How did you know he was going to ask him out?" Liam asks.

"We talk," Zayn smiles, and Liam can't believe how alike he and Zayn are on the inside.

"Did you ever talk to him about me?" Liam inquires, lacing his arms around Zayn's waist.

"A gentlemen never tells," Zayn smiles, pecking Liam on the lips once again, and then burying his head into his shoulder.

Liam can't remember a time where the universe was more aligned.

♡

"And the winner is..." The announcer prolonged, the anticipation in the room suffocating every living soul. For the second time in Liam's life, time slowed down to almost a complete stop. It was like Liam was living his life through someone else's eyes, an out of body experience of sorts. 

"The Troubadours!" The man announced, and everyone went wild (except for the losing teams, of course). The first thing Liam did was jump into Zayn's arms, Zayn holding him bridal style and twirling him around. Through his happy tears and blurry vision, Liam could see Mr. Tomlinson and Mr. Styles share a kiss before Mr. Tomlinson went up to accept their trophy.

Liam would remember this to be one of the most magical moments in his life, and he wouldn't want it any other way.

♡

The bus ride home was a lot more eventful than the one there, everyone dressed down in sweatpants and t shirts with their hair and stage makeup array. Mr. Tomlinson insisted that the radio be turned up loud, with everyone singing loudly for the entire first hour. Mr. Tomlinson and Mr. Styles were cuddled up front, Zayn and Liam spending their time cooing over their relationship. 

Liam and Zayn sat together on the ride home, talking and occasionally singing along with the other students. At one point, Zayn looked over at Liam in the light of the moon through the window and asked, "Are you sure you really want to be my boyfriend?"

"More than anything in the world," Liam responded, grinning, "I've never wanted something so badly before."

Zayn beamed, then laughed, "But you've seen how dramatic I can get over dumb things, are you positive you really want to deal with that?"

"Yes, I'd deal with anything for you," Liam confirmed, pecking Zayn on the cheek. 

The bus toned down in the duration of the second hour, pulling up in the school driveway an hour after that last conversation. Zayn had fallen asleep on Liam's shoulder with his arms wrapped around his waist, and Liam was resting his head on top of his. Liam hated waking him up, but they had to get off the bus unless they wanted to spend the night there. 

Mr. Tomlinson congratulated each of them as they got off the bus, patting them on the back and giving them words of wisdom. Liam doesn't think he'll ever forget what Mr. Tomlinson said to him, 'Never let a chance slip by, because you may not have it tomorrow'.

Liam offered to walk Zayn to his car, holding his hand as they walked through the barely lit parking lot. 

"It's this one," Zayn said sleepily, pointing directly at a cherry red Mini Cooper.

"Zayn, sweetie, I don't think you drive a Mini Cooper," Liam laughs.

"Are you judging my choice in cars?" Zayn replied, sounding offended, but he was so tired that it barely even sounded like a question.

"So you've been picking on me this entire time for driving a Volvo while you're sporting a Mini Cooper? Bullshit!" Liam chuckles.

"Hey, it runs good. At least I'm not a soccer mom," Zayn smiles weakly, his eyes barely being able to stay open. 

"Zayn, are you even going to be able to drive home, you're so tired you can't even formulate sentences correctly," Liam asked worriedly.

"Probably not, can I stay by your house tonight?" 

"Of course. Come on, kid, pile in the soccer mom car."

♡

Zayn sleeps the entire ride home, and Liam ends up carrying him upstairs to his bedroom. He lays Zayn on the opposite side of the bed, tucking him in nicely under the covers before climbing in himself. Liam gives Zayn a peck on the cheek, and puts his arm around him, cuddling him in.

Liam thinks about the occurrences of the day, and of the last six weeks he spent with the Troubadours. These were undoubtedly the best times of his life, spent with Zayn and the crew in the run down choir room. He laughs to himself, remembering that this entire ordeal was to count as punishment, when in reality, he's had the best time of his life.

 _Punishment my ass_ , Liam thinks, and then he falls asleep with the entire world in his arms.

_fin._


End file.
